Forced to Become

Ch 23 victory

The bad one seemed puzzled to see me crying. He made an effort to wipe his mouth on his shoulder before sighing.

"It's all right," he said softly. "I think I've finally won. That's how you have to look at it, as me winning."

I sniffled, moving back toward him on all fours.

"You have to stop now, before they come back," he leaned forward as he whispered. "Get yourself together. It's ok."

I nodded, moving to sit in front of him. With a sudden movement, before I could change my mind, I unsnapped the leash from his collar.

"No, you can't," the bad one hissed at me, moving to snap the leash back on.

I pulled it from his grasp. "Actually, I can. My assignment is to guard you. If Alpha says anything, I'll tell him I wanted to prove how competent I am. Don't be difficult for me and we'll keep the chain off."

"You really think that will keep that maniac off you?

I actually chuckled a little. "I figured something out, see..." and I told him all about what I did with the sit-ups. "So you see," I finished, "you just have to put everything in terms of being obedient or protecting the pack. There will definitely still be some blows, because that's what Alpha does best, but not so bad." I paused. "At least that's what I hope, anyway."

The bad one stared at me, before coughing again. "You're the good one, right?" he finally asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Figures. What's your name?"

"The Good One."

He shook his head. "No, your real name."

I could only stare at him, unable to say anything.

"See," he said, wincing as he lowered himself down. He grimaced as he curled up on his one side, wrapping his arms around his middle. He turned so he could still look at me. "They've won. They killed you. You don't exist anymore. Me, my name's Andre. That's who I am, that who I'm going to be until I die, which hopefully will be soon."

"No, you're not going to die," I started to say, but the look in his eyes stopped me.

"He kicked one too many times. There's something busted on my insides. You've seen the blood I keep coughing up. Tell me one movie where that's good. I can feel it with every breath I take. If I had to guess, one of my ribs punctured my lungs or something else. They aren't going to take me the the hospital, so I'm going to die here."

We stared at each other until he coughed again, spitting out... I closed my eyes, not wanting to admit the truth of what he said.

"What's your name?" he asked again.

I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was the thin red streak running down his chin. It took a moment before I could actually focus on his face, and his one un-swollen eye. He looked at me so compassionately, I couldn't help but answer him this time.

"Nathan," I whispered.

"Hi, Nathan, I'm Andre."

"Hi, Andre," I answered back, shivering slightly.

"So tell me what's happened, how come you're in here guarding me."

I filled him in on our lord's new status as Beta, repeating the phrase again and again in my head so I wouldn't forget again; my lord Beta. We were silent for awhile after I was done telling him about the fight we could hear, and the hatred in Alpha's voice when he made the announcement that I had taken as a victory for our lord Beta. He didn't say anything when I told him about the plans our lord Beta had fought for him, so he could remain human; plans that were useless now.

"Even if I accept being an omega," he finally said, "even if I agree to be called omega, Alpha is still going to beat me. I can barely breath. He, either of them, command me to scrub the floor, you think, physically, I'll be able to obey? He'll kick me again, and I'll die right in front of you all. What would happen then?"

He groaned suddenly, and my heart beat faster.

A thought filled me, and I looked around the room, finally finding the small air grate in the ceiling. I kept looking around as if I hadn't noticed it, wondering if our lord had snuck off and was up there listening.

"Our lord Beta said we could... no, he didn't actually say it," I quickly corrected, "but I asked about getting this place cleaned up. Even our lord Beta said that it's current condition wasn't a good home for you. Maybe, after you become part of the pack, we can clean this place up. I'll even ask if we can get you some blankets. After all, you can't make fur like we can."

Andre looked at me funny. I rolled my eyes up toward the vent, then scratched my head, using my hand to block the view of my finger tapping my ear.

"Here, let me see that eye of yours. Maybe I can get something for your scratches too, some bandages maybe."

I scooted closer, leaning down so my head was close to his ear as I pretended to inspect his cuts.

"When Alpha grabbed me, it really hurt bad and I couldn't help crying out. I don't want to hurt you, but, can you tell, is that happening?"

"The last few days, yeah. Hurts every time he grabs me," Andre whispered back.

Days? If it's been happening for days, he should be changing already, shouldn't he be? It should almost be done, shouldn't it? But there had been no constant screams coming from him. There wasn't even any sign of fur on him.

"An, Andre? I have to ask," I whispered very quietly. "Who bit you? Was it, one of the guards?"

"Don't bother asking about bandages," Andre said louder, pushing me away. "Even though our lord is trying to help me, I'm not going to agree to be called omega. I'm not going to lose myself." Andre pushed himself over a bit, lowering his head down so my body blocked the view from the vent. "Promise me," he whispered intently. "Promise me you won't loose yourself. Promise me you'll try and save what you can of who they were. Shawn was... is, my friend. Teach them to be good ones, so they survive."

I could only nod, tears falling freely down my face. Andre reached up, wiping the tears from the one side of my face he could reach, before he settled his head on my lap. I watched his ragged breathing, wondering how much longer he would live.

"Three twenty-eight Sycamore Drive, Jersey City," Andre suddenly said. "Andre Collins the third. I always hated saying 'the third'," he chuckled softly. "It sounds so pretentious. Three twenty-eight Sycamore Drive, Jersey City. Andre Collins the third. That's who I am. Three twenty-eight Sycamore Drive."

Andre kept repeating himself. I tried to brush back his hair a bit, finally giving up because of the matted blood. I kept stroking his forehead though, not how our lord, our Beta did, but how my mom used to when I would get sick. Occasionally his personal litany would stop as he coughed up blood in my lap.

I held him, not letting go, my tears falling freely onto his face, knowing he had won his victory over Alpha in the end. He died Andre Collins, human, and that was the name I would forever remember him by.

My friend. Andre.